CHAPTER 1: "Happenstance."

"Even if the builder of a home is perfect, there are still imperfections inherent in His creation. Walls may be of irregular thickness. Rooms may be of discordant size. Floor tiles may be of inconsistent coloring. But all of them can and will be fixed." - The XII Mechanor Tridex (Circa 1958).  

It felt like they were going on forever and nowhere at the same time. The voice was still continuing to ramble to her, the words feeling more loose by the second. Or millisecond. She was never really good at those sorts of estimations.

She felt like she was stuck in the sky. No one else in sight or mind besides her, the voice, and the clouds.

It was kind of annoying to her. But at the same time, it was freeing.

Sure, she hated heights, but the quiet felt nice.

So yeah, after you break P's leg and leave the sucker hobbling on one foot, you give it a cane.. Then you straighten its spine, then you leave it to die!

And that's why the letter R exists!

Alright. Time to move on to the Achaean Alphabet!

She was getting a bit annoyed. All this drivel and they hadn't even gotten to what she really wants to know.

"I-is there e-ever a quiet m-moment to yo-ou?"

Well. If there's anything I can teach you, it's that quiet never lasts forever.

...

She still resided in the pile, alongside the new voice in her head.

She was beginning to feel the pain of the uncomfortable angle her body was unnaturally disposed in.

But still. If she was anything, she was persistent.

"A-alright. You've gone through a-almost all the letters except t-the one that looks like ze-zero..

"Could you please tell me what that letter is called?" she begged the voice, with an incessant child-like tone. A strange quality began to emerge in her noise. It still sounded dead, but something about it felt more alive than the usual computer generated audio.

You've got to be kidding me. Not this crap again. 

"Please? It's just a letter." she pleaded with the voice.

Fine. Fine. I'll tell you what it is.

From how much you can't seem to shut up about it, I'm assuming you know what zero is? 

"Yeah?"

Split it in half.

"Zero isn't divisible by two-"

Not the mathematical constant kid. The word.

"Ro?"

Yes. Ro. 

I would say that it's your new name, but there's no way I'm hitching a ride on someone called Ro. Sounds like they'd gently drown in a stream.

You don't want your life to be a dream right?

"Y-Yeah?"

Anyway, enough about that. Say it.

"Ok? Ro.

"Ro..

"Ro.?

"Ro!

"Roooo-"

You were pronouncing it right a few seconds ago. Now it sounds like a marsupial who'd kick you into the stream.

"I'm not getting it.. You just told me what the letter R means."

And?

"I only noticed two sounds in Ro. There's the R sound, and then there's that weird 'o' sound-"

Say that again. Slowly.

She paused for a moment. Something didn't feel rig-

"Oh.....

She giggled awkwardly.

"That's w-what the letter was.. 'O'!"

She continued to chuckle halfheartedly, as if trying to mask an awkward silence filled with the air of humiliation.

The voice abided the giggling.. But not for very long.

"Sorry about that.." she said with a tinge of shame in her voice.

I can tell we're gonna get along just fine.

She was silent again, but the silence felt more purposeful than before.

Kiddo? You still there?

"Yep." she replied. 

So. 'O'bviously we still have a bit of a problem here... what was your name again?

"Maybe 'I' for now?"

Yeah I'm not calling you 'I'. It'd be a whole comedy of errors if we went with that.

"Maybe not just the single letter, but I still like the sound of it."

Sure. Sure. Everyone has a favorite letter. I want to know if you're insane enough to have a second.

She thought on it, but she realized that there was really only one thing she could possibly say.

"Honestly, I don't know."

The voice reflected on the answer, but only for a small moment.

Well. Guess not all of your screws are loose. 

"W-wait what?.." there was a tinge of panic in her response.

Don't sweat it kid.

Anyway. We're still stuck here in this mass of junk. Your back is probably going to crack soon. At least, that's how I feel. 

She became startled. As if rattled out of a trance that left her high up in the sky.

"I don't know how to get out of here.." Her voice dropped a bit, like she couldn't hold something in for much longer. It almost reminded the voice of a child. 

Kid indeed.

Seriously? You don't know what a distress signal is?

"I can't.. M-my body's broken. I can't access anything that isn't the s-stupid System Diagnostic."

Have you tried the auxiliary generator? I've scanned your internal systems, and it seems like the only thing that isn't busted.

"You what?..

"S-Same story over there. I can't use it.."

Well. That's certainly strange..

"Y-yeah. I don't know what happened there.. Was I locked out?"

Wait a second.

The voice disappeared for a second, but she felt something in her systems. They were trace, as if they had long outstayed their welcome.

There's no easy way to tell this to you kid.

"O-Okay? What did you find--"

There's no life signature coming off on you. 

You're dead.

"What..? N-no. Th-this can't be ri-right." she stammered in a panic.

She tried to move her left arm again. She could still hear the machinery within her struggling. Grinding against the scrap that entrapped it in the pile.

"But.. I'm m-moving it--"

The HUD popped up on her screen. As if willed by her consciousness.

'D-Diagnostic...?'

'Searching for Psionic System Status...'

Her HUD brought up a square, bordered by bold, red lines.

'Psionic Signature not found. Current findings suggest irrevocable Inert State. Further attempts to reboot may result in the occurrence of unwanted Spe-' 

The HUD began to slow and stutter. The images began to distort into random sprites of geometry as it showed one final message.

'ERROR 404. C-CONSCIOUSNESS <host> (1-I0a) CANNOT BE A-A-A'

She could feel that voice again. Something about how its words were being dictated felt more.. Excited than before.

Pretty sure you get the point. There's no moving this sinking ship.

"I'm alive.

"I'm a-alive..

"I-I'm a-ali-ve-ve..."

Her head felt empty. As if something had left.

She noticed a brightness on her front.

It was her screen. Shining with a radiant blue, as it always did. Unlike always, it was blank.

There were no eyes. There was no smile.

"H-Hello..? Please.. Anybody?!"

No response.

She tried to get move her body once again, but she only got some mild twitching instead.

She was still stuck.

"Help.. Help me..."

Her noise finally halted its jitterings. But for what?

She was still at the bottom of the pit.

And from the bottom of the pit was the sound of misery. The wailing didn't cease. Her noise had given into its erratic speech patterns. Barely carving itself out in the ambient noise of the Ruinyard.

How could an imperfect, broken robot measure to a perfect, undying machine?

Higher pitch.

Low pitch.

High pitch.

Lower pitch.

High pitch.

Scramble.

 ...

So. How about a deal?

Her body was still twitching. Even under the weight of the pile.

"A-a what?"

Her noise was still recalcitrant in its harsh mechanical buzz, and ever erratic stutter.

You heard.

"C-Contract? Like t-the deal be-between Eriskon and the Silver Horde?" 

Oh shoot. Forgot you're with those Trinitynus... Or whatever they're called..

Anyway, here's my little idea..

The name clung onto her mind like a bad itch. It was as if all her thoughts were drawn to it. The more she tried to let go, the more it wanted to hold on. 

But for now, she allowed it to slip by her.

She didn't need any of that. Not now, anyway. 

Plus. She shouldn't think about the TRIADMUS for too long, they could tra---

Hey kiddo you listening? I'm not explaining this twice to you.

"Y-yeah.. I'm-m listening."

As I was saying, 

She looked all around her. The once mighty pile had been reduced to scraps of charred metal and wire which flanked her on every side. A trail of smoke trailed upwards, cloaking her weak form in a blanket of grey mist.

"H-how did y-you?"

Magic kiddo. I can do many things.

She could almost hear the voice shrugging under her breath.

"O-ok?"

She crawled on the ground, a trail of wires following wherever she went. The wires sparked a bit as she inched closer and closer to the pile of body parts that sat before her.

"T-this hurts.."

Gotta warn you kid. It's gonna be one hell of a miracle if we find your exact waist.

Well. Our other options aren't exactly better than this..

She reached for the rod.

It wasn't anything special, but it felt sturdy in her hand.

"So-o. Could I use this instead of.. Well that?"

"SURPRISE!"

The machine of four arms muttered something to himself as he left.

"Special arm.."

"I-I think I

"I. O."

So. What does that mean?

Just a clump of memories.

I think therefore IO.

Io could still hear the squeaking of her new parts. Especially the left leg. That awful, clunky left leg.

Every step she took, she winced a little. It wasn't quite painful, but it didn't feel good either.

Io pulled up the HUD on her screen to see how far their destination still was.

It read as follows.

'Proximity from Destination is Approximately 47 miles.'

Io groaned. There was still around one hour and ten minutes of locomotion required before she could rest in the Ascender. 

"Where are we?" she asked impatiently to her HUD.

'Currently passing through Ruin No. 98715'  

Still. If Io really were to undergo that distance with the battered Frankenstein's Monster of a body she'd been saddled with, a few moments of rest wasn't going to hurt her journey.

Io's movement halted. She found a large pile and plopped down beneath it.

So we're going sightseeing?

"No.. Just r-resting.." Io said wearily.

Seriously? I didn't get us out of that pile just to end up under another.

"I'm so tired.. Why don't you try moving this thing? I'm sure it'll be so much easier for you, voice in my head." Io retorted.

You know what? You're right. I'll be steering this ship until we arrive at the Ascender.

The voice tried to will Io's legs upwards.

Nothing happened.

The voice willed Io's left arm to move. It partially raised upwards before sparks begun to fly out of it. The left arm then crashed to the ground.

Hey! Sorry to break it to you, but if you wanna get out of here, you gotta move!

She weakly smirked.

"C-contract. Remember?"

Io shuffled her body to rest on her VESPIDIA arm. After a few seconds, she moved to rest on her back. And after a couple moments of that, she began to move onto her chest. 

Even when resting she was restless.

She was bobbing her head back and forward as her hands gripped her knees. Her eyes were closed. She took in the darkness and felt the cool metal surface beneath her.

It wasn't much of anything resembling relaxation, but she loved it.

...

It had been over 

So. We're sightseeing?

Io was nearly completely still. Almost like she was sleeping.

The voice noticed a mild turbulence. It felt like she was breathing, but something felt off.

Io was shaking a bit. She clutched herself even more intensely, like she was freezing from the cold.

Hey. You alright?

"D-doing 

Io laughed as

"Snippy Snip Snip!"

The winged beast descended from its nest, the whistling of its wings sounding throughout the Ruinyard from up on high. 

Io gazed at it as it dived downwards, the whistling becoming a piercing 

She fell down lifelessly, her body clanking on the hard metal ground.

'I-I can't move..' 

Don't say a word.

Well. That could've gotten real ugly. I'd even say that it would've been--

The whistling noise shifted from Io's right to Io's left. She felt it getting louder and louder and lou--

Swift as a dive bomber, the corpse flew out of the sky. It

Lighten up kid. Could've hit us.

"I-I'm not r-ripping out-t this guy's swollen orb!"

Who knows? Could be handy.

Io winced a bit as her fingers grabbed a hold of the body, filling themselves within the chest of the wreckage.

It made an awful screeching noise as she deformed the armor, revealing the spherule. It